Evosport Titanium Shims Work As Heat Shields to Maintain Brake Power

When brakes are under stress and working hard, they get extremely hot. The longer you are on the brakes (i.e., entering a corner from a long straight), the more stress and heat that is generated. This heat has tremendous effects on the effectiveness of the brakes as well as on the brake components themselves. Rubber, for example, can quickly melt in that situation, or in any heavy braking scenario. The heat created from the friction of the hard-working brakes can actually boil the hydraulic brake fluid, which even further reduces stopping power. Heat is transferred from the rotors and pads directly into the brake fluid by means of the caliper pistons. As the fluid boils, it releases air into the brake lines which leads to brake fade and forces the brake pedal to go to the floor instead of maintaining hydraulic pressure to move the caliper pistons. This where titanium brake shims come in.

Unlike most production cars, many race cars have expensive brakes that have titanium caliper pistons. Titanium is an element that has very low thermal conductivity. This means it is very effective as a heat insulator rather than a dissipater. In other words, you do not want the caliper pistons to transfer heat (in this case to the brake fluid), you want them to work as a heat shield to minimize the heat transfer and keep the brake fluid as cool as possible.

Since most of us drive production cars, our brake caliper pistons contain aluminum and steel. Both of which have much higher thermal conductivity than titanium (8 times for steel and almost 20 times more for aluminum when compared to titanium) and allow a greater amount of heat to transfer to the brake fluid.

Titanium brake shims work like heat shields to prevent the heat of the braking effort from affecting the other brake parts. The thin titanium shim is placed between the back of the brake pad and the pistons to prevent heat transfer to the brake fluid.

For spirited drivers, cars that see the track or in conditions where braking is crucial, titanium shims are a very cost effective option to maintain brake effectiveness and performance. In addition, maintaining cooler temperatures for brake parts ensures a longer life and less need for brake fluid changes. Rebuilding brake calipers can be very expensive.

Evosport Inc. is a world-class leading manufacturer and supplier of high-performance products and services for Mercedes, BMW, Porsche and Ferrari automobiles for both street and track applications.The company is privately held.